Self-publishing Basics

1. Self-publishing: What is self-publishing? It is when you, the author, upload a book to amazon.com or smashwords.com, you set the price and the royalty options, you have access to your own sales data. When someone else does it for you (like a ‘self-publishing’ company), they are the publisher on record. They control the pricing, monitor sales, and keep a chunk (or all) of your royalties. This is not self-publishing.
2. ‘Self-publishing’ companies: This terminology is very unfortunate because it gives you the illusion that you are self-publishing. You have no control over your royalties. It takes 30 minutes or less to upload your book to Amazon etc. It just doesn’t make sense to give away your royalties for this effort.
3. Traditional publishing: When your book is published by a publishing house/company. The publisher pays you an advance, edits your book, designs your cover, publishes your book and is also in charge of distribution (i.e. sending it to book stores). Royalties typically are lower in India at 5-8%. The rest of the world is 15-25%.
4. Beta readers: Once your manuscript is ready, seek out beta readers – people who’ll read the book and give you critical input i.e. what works and what doesn’t.
5. Editing: It is not enough that your husband or your mother edited the book. Get your book professionally edited; if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, that is (see below for the list of editors).
6. Book cover: Commission a cover for your book. You can expect to spend about $80-100. If this is too expensive, google for ‘premade covers.’ You can get them for as little as $20.
7. Uploading your e-book (the electronically downloadable form of your book):
   • Upload to Amazon: Create account on http://kdp.amazon.com. This is where you will upload your kindle-compatible book.
   • Formatting: Format your book for kindle. For help with formatting, kdp (kindle direct publishing) has online tutorials. Once you’ve formatted, download the kindle previewer and page through the entire book to make sure there are no formatting errors. Only when you’re completely certain there are no errors, upload the book.
   • Pricing: Before you can upload, you’ll need to figure out the price. For my 105,000 word novel, I set the price at $2.99. When it started to sell steadily, I raised the price to $3.99. Some people set their price to 99 cents, hoping that they’ll gain readership that way, then raise the price. In my opinion, people who buy only 99 cent books are looking for a bargain, and are not open to buying when you do raise the price. They won’t be looking at the higher price range because there are so many 99 cent books available. Having said that, keeping your price under $5 is a good idea. That seems to be the impulse buy limit. When you price your book between $2.99-$9.99, your royalties are 70%. Otherwise it is 35%.
   • Upload to smashwords: Create an account on http://www.smashwords.com.  Download their free formatting guide. If formatting overwhelms you, the guide tells you how to get a list of formatters who will format your book for as little as $25.
8. Uploading your paperback: What if you do want to hold the paper version of your book in your hand? Your options for the rest of the world (i.e. not India) are:
   • http://www.CreateSpace.com
   • http://www.Lulu.com
   • http://www.LighteningSource.com
   • http://www.Pothi.com (for India). Works like CreateSpace. I haven’t personally used them, but they are very prompt and responsive.You might consider having your print book professionally formatted. ebook formatting was easy enough for me, but print formatting was taking too much time, so I just hired someone.
9. Minimum expense to self-publish: Remember, pay for these services with a one-time fee. Do not go for the royalty sharing option. And never do both – pay upfront, as well as split royalties. That is a terrible deal for you.
   • Editing: For a manuscript of 100,000 words, about $500, though this varies with the skill level of the editor.
   • Book cover design: Cheapest premade covers will cost you $20-25. *** See Update below***
   • Formatting: $20-25.
   • Uploading to Amazon: FREE. Amazon is a retailer. It sells your books directly. Up to 70% royalties.
   • Uploading to smashwords: FREE. Smashwords is an aggregator. It uploads your books to iBooks, Barnes and Noble etc. It pays you 65% royalties. You can also buy books directly from here. Smashwords is useful for international authors because B&N etc. need a US bank account and tax id to upload your book. It is useful for Americans, as well, because you can use coupons to give away copies of your ebook for review.
   • If you want hand holding, Bookbaby.com has epublishing packages starting at $99. They do the formatting etc, but do not take a cut in your royalties. Remember, it is never advisable to do both. If a company is asking for set up fees and royalties, chances are it is a ‘self-publishing’ company.

    

10. Protect yourself: If you do decide to go with a ‘self-publishing’ company, or with a literary agent, protect yourself by researching. A very unfortunate development is that a few major (i.e. known and reputable) companies are associating with well known sharks that tout themselves as ‘self-publishing’ companies. There are thousands of complaints against these ‘self-publishing’ companies. They charge you thousands of dollars for something that should cost only a few hundred. Before you do anything at all, google the ‘self-publishing’ company, and the word ‘complaints’. These companies make money off you by charging hefty set-up fees, and also taking a split in your royalties. Like I mention above, never do both – that is a terrible deal for you, the author.Don’t forget to check these sites out:
    •  http://absolutewrite.com
    •  http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware
    •  http://pred-ed.com
    • The Writer Beware website: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/
11. Book cover designer (I have personal experience only with Manoj. Use rest at your own risk)
    • Manoj Vijayan: http://inkbugdesign.com (cover designer of my book, Tell A Thousand Lies)
    • Patty G. Henderson: http://www.pattyghenderson.com/
    • Julie Tyler julietyler@yahoo.com: She charged $50 for the cover.
    • Todd Messinger: http://www.talenthousead.com/cust/portfoliowebsite/design.html
    • Karen Phillips at http://www.phillipscovers.com/
    • Brian Mowell is affordable and excellent at what he does. Brianmowell.com
    • Specialist Book and Ebook Cover design. http://damonza.com/category/damonza
12. Book covers and ebook formatting (I have personal experience only with Hugh. Use rest at your own risk)
    • Hugh Ashton hugh@j-views.biz at http://j-views.biz (did my print book formatting)
    • Karen Syed http://karensyed.wordpress.com/sassy-gal-for-hire/sassy-pro/ (ebook and print book  formatting)
    • Barry Ergang barry_ergang@comcast.net (ebook formatting, covers)
    • Catherine M. Wilson cmwilson@wildestdreams.org (ebook formatting, covers)
13. Editor (I have personal experience only with Pat. Use rest at your own risk)
    • Pat B. Smith (editor of my book, Tell A Thousand Lies)
    • Vickie Johnstone: http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.co.uk/p/editing-service.html
    • Matt Gartland: www.winningedits.com
    • Lorin Oberwger: http://www.free-expressions.com
    • Karen Syed: http://karensyed.wordpress.com/sassy-gal-for-hire/sassy-pro/
    • http://www.tillieink.com/
    • Lauren Sweet has one of the best structural eyes I’ve ever encountered. flamingo@lauren-sweet.com
    • I love my editor, Evelyn Fazio, who edited my first two books, SCARS and
      HUNTED. emfazio@earthlink.net
    • Kudos to mine at Five Star, Gordon Aalborg
    • Lauryn Camden: http://www.camdenparkpress.com/author-services
    • Laura Culley laura@mystichawker.com. She works a manuscript over until she is
      comfortable that there are no obvious problems in it and she and I are both
      comfortable with the way it comes out.
    • If you’re looking for an editor for a YA manuscript, I highly recommend Emma Dryden. She was the editor in chief at McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), an children’s and YA imprint, until a couple of years ago, and was my editor there — now she has her own consulting company where she edits and consults with authors on their career strategies — DrydenBks.
    • Linda Lane: I head up a team of professional editors and mentors that offers services in a variety of genres, including most fiction and non-fiction, screenwriting, and graphic novels. Visit our website at http://www.denvereditor.com.
    • Catherine M. Wilson can edit as well as format a manuscript for platforms like Smashwords. cmwilson@wildestdreams.org
    • Susanne Lakin http://www.livewritethrive.com, for free writing instruction and tips on indie publishing, as well as see testimonials and info on my editing services.
    • Lyn Worthen http://www.camdenparkpress.com/author-services.
    • Anita Bartholomew. Developmental editor.
    • Jeannette de Beauvoir : I do copyediting, developmental editing, book doctoring, and ghostwriting. Website is http://www.customline.com; click on “individual services.”
    • Cindy Davis cindy@fiction-doctor.com
    • Helen Ginger I’m the Coordinator for Story Circle Network’s Editorial Services. We have
      15 editors who can edit just about anything, from memoir to sci-fi to mystery. You can get different levels of editing, also, from proofreading to conceptual editing to manuscript evaluation for publisher. http://www.storycircleeditorialservice.org/
    • Sondra Gockel is a proofreader extraordinaire. booksmart4u@charter.net

    UPDATES

    1.  Check out Mark Coker’s (of smashwords) list of formatters and cover designers: http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.php?/topic/2891-smashwords-ceo-mark-cokers-official-list/
    2. Amazon is now experimenting with an ebook cover generator. There is no charge for this service.